Smellie named to Olympic relay team

GAVIN SMELLIE

Photo by Bryon Johnson

Gavin Smellie, training recently on a track near his Brampton home, is getting ready to represent Canada in the 4-by-100 metres relay in the 2012 Olympics. A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Smellie has been to two world championships.

With two world championships and a Summer Universiade under his belt he is a veteran of the Canadian sprint teams. But he knows that nothing he has faced before will come close to the stage he is about to appear on, the Olympic Games.

Smellie, who moved to Brampton recently from Etobicoke, is one of the runners named by Athletics Canada to represent this country in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2012 Games in London.

“There is nothing like the Olympics,” Smellie said. “To march in that Opening Ceremonies, it will be a dream come true.”

The 26-year-old, who came to Canada from Jamaica at age 14, said he almost became a track athlete by accident while in high school. Living in Etobicoke he attended George Harvey Collegiate where he played soccer.

Wanting to play the sport at a higher level he transferred to Dante Aligheri Academy but because of transfer rules he had to sit out a year before he would be able to play soccer. He said not being able to play soccer that year was tough on him.

“I played everything, basketball, volleyball, even badminton,” he said. When the spring season arrived he ended up on the track team and showed immediately his ability. Without much training he had a first and a second in the 100m and 200m in his first meet.

Coaches told him he had talent and he should pursue the sport. He quickly grew to love running. The next year when he had to choose between attending the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) track or soccer championships which were on the same weekend, he opted for track.

That decision has paid off for him in many ways. He earned a scholarship to Western Kentucky University, where he won numerous races, and accolades (including two All-American honours), and earned a degree in business.

He has also had the opportunity to represent Canada at a number of international competitions. That included the 2009 World Athletics championship in Berlin, where he lined up in the quarterfinals of the 200m next to Usain Bolt of Jamaica, the world’s fastest man.

Smellie said that experience has proven to be a motivation for him.

Later that year he finished sixth in the 200m final at the Summer Universiade (World University Games) in Belgrade, Serbia.

At the 2011 World Track and Field Championship in Daegu, South Korea, Smellie was part of the Canadian 4 x 100m relay team. Running the second leg in Canada’s qualifying race, he took the baton from Sam Effan after the opening leg and stiffened up in the back stretch, collapsing just after he handed the baton to Jared Connaughton.

Canada finished sixth and failed to advance. Smellie was taken in an ambulance for treatment of a hamstring strain.

“I really don’t like to talk about that,” said Smellie. “I feel that I let my teammates down.”

While he has had some hamstring problems over the years, he said this season he has been healthy and has been able to be a big part of Canadian relay successes. He credits his good health with joining coach Glenroy Gilbert in Ottawa last year. Gilbert was a member of Canada’s gold-medal 4 x 100m team at the 1996 Olympics and is now Canada’s relay coach.

“It tells you a lot about Glenroy Gilbert and how good a coach he is,” said Smellie of how well things have gone.

There is a pool of eight athletes named for the Canadian 4 x 100m team. The Canadian team has put in many hours of practice working on getting those exchanges just right, with each split second counting.

Canada is ranked 11th in the world this season with a two-race average time of 38.64 seconds. Jamaica is ranked No. 1 at 37.56 seconds. Smellie feels it will take a time below 38 seconds to win a medal in London.

Canada has had some good performances this season, including winning the 4-by-100m at the Golden Gala meet in Rome in 38.63, defeating a field that did include many of the teams that will be at the Olympics, except for the U.S. and Jamaica.

Canada was also second in 38.77 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Smellie said the Canadians are very much in medal contention.

The 4-by-100m is one of the marque events of the Olympics and will be one of the last events in London, with the first round on Friday, Aug. 10 and the finals scheduled for the next day. The Closing Ceremonies are on Aug. 12.